geordi wrote:
Meanwhile in other Kaliforniastan news... I just had a problem with a piece of lawn equipment. My string trimmer (Ryobi 4 cycle powerhead with removable attachments) decided it didn't want to work functionally anymore. I have been somewhat religious about draining the tank on it and running it dry every time I am done with it, but after less than 2 years it refuses to run above an idle. Just bogs out and dies. Hmm, I know a thing or three about engines, so this seems like a fuel mix issue. Time to adjust the carb.[
That's generally bad practice. You should not store carbs dry - the gaskets and seals will dry out and fail. Additionally, fuel film will get left in small passages and turn to varnish or, if it's ethanol fuel, goo. Likely the reason it's dying is air leaks post venturi, but it could be a clogged jet, etc.. You don't need to adjust it, you need to rebuild it.
https://www.goldeagle.com/tips-tools/la ... k-mistake/I've had the same Kalifornistan-mandated string trimmer, blower, and lawn tractor for a decade. None of them particularly expensive. I had to rebuild the carb on the trimmer (same symptoms as yours) once about three years ago. I bought the kit from Echo directly on the internet... cost like $15 and took maybe 20 minutes. Everything else works great. I do nothing special between ~December and ~March when they are unused other than connect the tractor's battery to a NOCO float charger.
FWIW, Kalifornistan's requirements for small engines have virtually nothing to do with "running lean." Engines that run lean produce higher NOx, which SOREs generally lack the ability to manage... no EGR, etc. The SORE guidelines in California are primarily centered on controlling vapor loss, removing adjustments ignorant users might mess with, and inclusion of oxidizing catalyst mufflers. Most of this information is readily available on ARB's website, but here's a great page on the details:
https://pressurewashr.com/what-is-carb- ... BvsNonCARB